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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1919, No. 36 



EDUCATION IN ITALY 



By 



WALTER A. MONTGOMERY 

SPECIALIST IN FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



[Advance Sheets from the Biennial Survey of Education, 1916-1918] 




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1919 



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EDUCATION m ITALY. 

By Walter A. Montgomery, 
Specialist in Foreign Educational Systems, Bureau of Education. 



Contents. — I. Introduction : Illiteracy. — II. Popular education : (a) Elementary schools ; 
(6) scuole popolare; (c) rural schools; (d) agricultural schools; .(e) vocational 
schools; (f) extra-scholastic activities; (g) hospital schools for wounded Italian 
soldiers; (h) projected plans for schools after the war. — III. Middle schools: (a) 
Industrial and commercial schools; (6) technical schools; (e) normal schools and 
teachers' institutes ; (d) ginnasi and Heel. — IV. Universities and higher education. 



I. INTRODUCTION. 

The economic and social exigencies brought about for Italy by her 
entrance into the war in May, 1915, inevitably led her educational 
thinkers to submit her traditional system of education to more care- 
ful scrutiny than ever before, and to recognize how inadequate it 
was along certain lines to meet the demands thrust upon it by the 
new conditions. The first results of the consequent attempt at read- 
justment were seen in the enlarged scope given the schools — the 
teachers, the pupils, and the buildings — and in their vigorous coop- 
eration with the nation-wide organizations founded to minister to 
the immediate needs of the refugees from the invaded Provinces, to 
relieve the families of men called to the service, and to supply school 
facilities to an overwhelming influx of pupils. The local and pro- 
vincial teachers became, very logically, the executive heads of much 
of this activity; and pronounced benefits accrued to the schools in 
increased respect for them and popular dependence upon them. Ad- 
ministrative officials, teachers, and laymen interested in education 
were not slow in taking advantage of the new strategic position of 
the schools to initiate a propaganda of reform, which, taken up 
by the educational and secular press, began to direct itself definitely 
toward legislative action. This awakening of the nation, with the 
impetus given to educational interest, and the consequent testing of 
principles and methods hitherto held sacred from all criticism, con- 
stitutes the most valuable line for the review of educational matters 
in Italy for the past two years. Of the projects and plans broached, 
some naturally failed of enactment into school law; but all show, 

3 



4 BIENNIAL SUEVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

in their natural sequence from the lower to the higher, a uniform 
national desire to throw off the dead hand of traditionalism and to 
make education subserve the actual needs of the nation. 

ILLITERACY. 

Preliminary to the discussion of the elementary schools proper 
should come that of illiteracy, a national problem inextricably bound 
up with them and dependent for its solution upon their progress and 
betterment. The percentage of illiteracy in Italy has decreased from 
68.8 in 1871, the year of the first census after the unification, to 46.7 
in 1911, when, of a total population of nearly 35,000,000, approxi- 
mately 16,000,000 were illiterate. Of prime ethnological and climato- 
logical significance in the study of Italian illiteracy are the facts that 
the Italians are spread over many varieties of climate and altitude; 
that of the 8,323 communes (June, 1911) only 6 were without illit- 
erates, and only 13 had less than 1 per cent, all these being situated 
in northern* Italy ; and that 456 situated in south central and southern 
Italy had an illiteracy of 75 per cent and over. 

Sicily and Sardinia showed the highest percentage of illiteracy; 
the plateau and mountain Provinces the lowest. Of 30 communes 
1,500 meters and more above sea level, 16 showed an illiteracy of less 
than 5 per cent ; 9 of less than 10 per cent ; 5 of less than 20 per cent ; 
only 1 of as much as 37 per cent. The highest commune in Italy — 
appropriately il commune di Chamois — showed a percentage of 0.9 
for women and 2 for men ; the lowest commune in the Kingdom, one- 
third of a meter above sea level, had a percentage of 57 for women 
and 42 for men. Of 69 chief provincial cities and towns, 5 showed 
10 per cent of illiteracy and 10 more than 50 per cent. Turin had 
the lowest percentage, 5 ; Girgenti and Messina, in the extreme south- 
ern tip, had 57. The city of Rome showed 15 per cent. The minister 
of public instruction is seriously doing his best to overcome this chief 
menace to national life. For the year 1916, 4,246 night schools and 
1,923 holiday schools for illiterate adults — an increase of nearly 500 
in two years — accommodating approximately 100,000 men and 
women, 1 were authorized; and of continuation schools for semi- 
illiterate adults (scuole di complemento) nearly 1,400 were author- 
ized for the same year, an increase of nearly 200 over those of the 
two years preceding. Encouraging as these figures are, however, 
such adult schools can never be more than palliative measures. 

Italian social workers think the cure is to be found not in measures 
hitherto employed but in systematic increases of appropriations for 
elementary schools and salaries to elementary teachers. Valuable aid 
is anticipated from the plan adopted several years ago by the military 

1 Figures of actual enrollment are not available. 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 5 

authorities, whereby illiterate soldiers, veterans as well as recruits, 
are to be given elementary instruction in the camps and military 
posts. It is feared, however, that the recently enacted law admitting 
illiterates of mature age to the electoral franchise will remove a great 
incentive to self-instruction, and prove a deplorable mistake from the 
point of view of combating illiteracy. 

II. POPULAR EDUCATION. 

(a) ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 

The elementary schools of Italy, in 1915, enrolled 3,692.024 chil- 
dren between the ages of 6 and 11 years, employed 75,993 teachers, 
17,243 men and 58,750 women, and cost the nation, combining central 
and local expenses, approximately $18,000,000. 1 They are, of course, 
the pivot of the entire educational system. In the judgment of 
Italy's progressive social workers a fair if disillusionizing estimate 
of their influence upon Italian life was furnished by the very un- 
expectedly high rate of illiteracy, or practical illiteracy, shown in 
the youth registered for the armies since May, 1916. Many such 
had had one or more years' schooling in the elementary schools. Act- 
ing on this stimulus, a definite move began for the complete recon- 
struction of the entire lower public school system. Among the most 
fruitful suggestions made by such bodies as the National Union of 
Italian Teachers, approved by the minister, and commended by the 
committee on education in the Chamber of Deputies were the follow- 
ing: 

1. The term of years for the courses of the elementary school 
should be shortened to four years at most; the subjects taught modi- 
fied in content and scope, and adapted to the comprehension and 
advancement of the pupils. Fewer subjects should be taught, and 
these should be taught well. The traditional repetition of programs 
and schedules should at once be eliminated; and subjects divided 
into definitely briefer assignments, adapted to the capacity of the 
pupil. 

2. The number of pupils in each class under one teacher should 
be restricted to 25. 

3. School attendance should be absolutely obligatory between defi- 
nitely prescribed school age limits. This should be rigorously en- 
forced by the civil authorities, with a graduated scale of fines for de- 
linquent parents and guardians. 

4. With the improvement in teaching thus demanded, teachers' 
salaries should be raised from the prevailing average of 200 lire 
($40.00) per month to at least twice that amount, and this increase 

1 Expenses of public elementary instruction are for 1916-17. 



6 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

should be accompanied by an emphasis upon the quality and stand- 
ing of the teacher in popular estimation. The elementary teacher 
should be required to have a teacher's diploma. 

5. On the administrative side, more efficient operation of the sys- 
tem of inspectors should be secured by a diminution in the number 
of vice-inspectors from the present 1,000 to 600, and the increase of 
the full inspectors from 400 to 600, promotion being restricted to 
members of the lower grade and made solely on the basis of merit 
and service. The jurisdiction of either grade should be limited to 
30 communes at most. Vice-inspectors should be relieved of all 
teaching functions, and should be required to devote their attention 
exclusively to the supervising duties in the zones assigned. 

6. Fundamental to all these, greater local power should be granted 
the communes in the management of the elementary schools, and in 
the adjustment of courses to local needs and conditions. The subjects 
taught in remote rural schools should be sharply differentiated from 
those taught in cities and populous towns. 

In furtherance of this movement the Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion, early in 1918, appointed a committee of inspectors and vice- 
inspectors, with powers to formulate a report of conditions and of 
recommendations. This report is awaited with very favorable in- 
terest by all the educational forces of the State. 

Under the vigorous administration of Sig. Berenini, while no 
strictly legal reforms in elementary education were made during the 
past two years, the systematic attempt was made, in so far as this was 
possible by departmental ordinances, to bring elementary education 
into vital relation with the needs of every-day life, especially in the 
rural districts. In this connection, the peasant schools of the Agro 
Romano , x in a peculiar sense the ward of the State, have constituted a 
valuable object lesson as to the possibilities of rural schools. The 
report of the committee, issued in July, 1917, and covering the 10 
years of the schools' existence, shows the harmonious cooperation of 
the State with the commune, the former working out hygienic and 
technical problems, the latter those of a moral and ethical nature. 
The population and teaching material in the Agro Romano was, at 
the inception, regarded as perhaps the most backward to be found in 
Italy. Beginning in 1907 with 8 schools, enrolling 340 pupils, they 
have grown to 73 regular schools, and 3 pre-schools (infantili asili) , 
enrolling and partly feeding 3,220 pupils. Furthermore, 14 State 
and communal upper elementary schools combined exist in communi- 
ties where the original elementary lower schools began operation. 
These schools are of four types, regular day, vacation, night (for 
adults), and infantili asili. They have rendered through their teach- 

lr The strip of the Campagna lying north and west of Rome, covering an area of about 
75 square miles. 



EDUCATION 1ST ITALY. 7 

ing staff increasingly effective assistance to destitute families and 
those of men called to the service, and their buildings have served as 
gathering places in the civic life of the community. These schools 
have the definite aim of preparing the pupils for their environment, 
to improve it, and to train them in agricultural pursuits, in building 
better homes, and in improving means of communication. Especial 
attention is called in the report to the efficiency of the system of 
inspection of these schools. 

The direct attention focused by the minister of public instruction 
upon elementary education has been accompanied by marked success 
in keeping before the Italian people the vital importance of the 
schools during the period of national stress. The enrollment in ele- 
mentary education, by the figures of January 1, 1916, exceeded by 
more than 500,000 that of the preceding year, and on an estimated 
gain in population of approximately a million. The branches of 
education related to the elementary, such as the asili, the kinder- 
gartens, the auxiliary schools, communal and private, and the par- 
ents' associations, have all shared in the benefits of this awakening, 
and all have been reenforced by private initiative. 

A culmination to the active efforts of the Italian Federation of 
Popular Libraries was seen in the royal decree of May, 1918, mak- 
ing compulsory a library of at least 50 volumes in each elementary 
school, to be purchased and maintained by the State and commune 
jointly. It is hoped that this compulsory popular library may be- 
come the nucleus for a system of popular education for^the older 
members of the community; that, by means of large increase in the 
existing grant devoted to popular and school libraries, and a place 
set apart for the library in each new school, popular extrascholastic 
classes may be held; that for teachers of such schools recourse may 
be had, in small rural communities, to such educated persons as there 
may be in the vicinity, while help may be given by teachers from 
neighboring towns; and that ultimately attendance at such classes 
may be made obligatory up to the age of 18. 

(b) scuole popolare; rural schools. 

The putting of the scuole popolare into operation is the most 
striking advance made in the field of Italian education during the 
past two years. The legal enactment constituting them was the re- 
sult of an organic growth, combining features of the plans submitted 
by the Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Labor, in December, 
1916, and by Sig. Ruffini, then Minister of Public Instruction, in 
February, 1917. Their compositely social and educational character 
is well illustrated by the history of the origin and passage of the 



8 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

law establishing them. The salient points of the scuole popolare, 
both in organization and aims, are as follows : 

1. The Government, with the consent of the local school council and 
the communes, was instructed to found a new type of school based 
upon the completion of the fifth and sixth elementary classes, and 
offering instruction of special and vocational character, as well as a 
development of the courses in the basic subjects, especially arithmetic 
and practical geometry, drawing, and the elements of physical and 
applied natural sciences. Such schools were to cover three years addi- 
tional to the elementary schools, and in the case of communes reserv- 
ing to themselves the management of the elementary schools, the 
power of further amplifying the scuole popolare was granted. 

2. The entire three years' course was to take the name of scuole 
popolare, be recognized as an institution of public instruction in legal 
standing, and governed by special statute approved by royal decree 
on the recommendation of the minister. The teaching staff and the 
program of special and general courses were to be determined by the 
statute embodying the school. Courses in agriculture, horticulture, 
agricultural economics, and whatsoever other scientific pursuits were 
adapted to the climate and needs of the individual locality were to 
be fostered and taught intensively. Only those teachers that should 
have pursued special training courses in the subjects they were as- 
signed to teach should be elected to the scuole popolare, and only 
upon the passing of examinations thereon. To be nominated as 
teacher of Italian, history, and civil ethics, geometry and arithmetic, 
the teacher must hold the diploma of the normal school or have 
served at least five years satisfactorily in the elementary public 
schools. The minimum salary of teachers in the scuole popolare was 
fixed at 2,000 lire ($400) for communes having over 20,000 inhabitants 
and at 1,500 lire ($300) for communes having less. The weekly 
schedule of instruction required of each teacher was to be 24 hours. 
For hours exceeding this he was to receive additional compensation 
of 80 lire ($16) per annum for each hour, and for hours falling 
below he was to be required to render such assistance as the giunta 
of the commune should direct. 

8. For admission to the scuole popolare the usual maturitd exami- 
nations required for admission to the first class of the middle and 
complementary schools should not be valid. Only students com- 
pleting in actual residence the work of the lower elementary school 
and passing the promotion examination of the fifth elementary 
grade were to be admitted to them. Students completing the work 
of the scuole popolare were to be admitted to the first classes of the 
technical and complementary schools upon the examinations and con- 
ditions fixed by the ministerial regulation. The leaving certificate 
of the scuole popolare should be recognized as equivalent to the 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 9 

leaving certificate of technical schools for admission to posts in va- 
rious branches of the public service. 

Rules governing the passage of certificated students from the 
scoule popolare to the agricultural and vocational middle schools 
were to be fixed by royal decree on the recommendation of the Min- 
isters of Public Instruction and of Agriculture, Industry, and Com- 
merce. 

To sum up : The scuole popolare are essentially rural and scien- 
tific, of considerable freedom in courses and schedules, supported by 
the commune and the State jointly, largely autonomous, and in the 
nature of continuation schools, being, in the words of Minister 
Berenini, " a bridge between the elementary and the vocational and 
technical schools." They are designed primarily for children hith- 
erto unable through economic stress to continue in school. Scientific 
and vocational advantages, hitherto offered only in schools of higher 
grade and at a distance, are now brought within local reach. 

An interesting phase of the scuole popolare is afforded in the 
tentative plans for the establishment of a marine popular school at 
Venice. As outlined, this school is designed to impart instruction in 
elementary navigation, making and managing boats, pisciculture in 
the various phases shown in particular localities, and devices for 
catching, conserving, and transporting of fish. Promising pupils 
will be afforded aid in proceeding on to higher technical marine 
schools already established. 

(c) RURAL SCHOOLS. 

A distinct move for the establishment of rural schools of ele- 
mentary grade, below the scuole popolare, but offering advantages 
akin to them, was launched at a meeting of the National Teachers' 
Union for Popular Education, held in Rome in May, 1918. The 
discussion was participated in by representatives of the Association 
for the Interests of Southern Italy, by the director and the Commis- 
sion for the Peasant Schools of the Agro Romano, the school press, 
and many students of the needs of the rural population. Resolu- 
tions were passed calling for the recognition bj^ the Government of 
the difference of the rural schools from the urban, the need of re- 
ducing studies and hours, of limiting the number of pupils under one 
teacher to 40, and of diminishing the number of .holidays, the obliga- 
tory establishment of four grades with enforced compulsory 
attendance, assistance to needy children, increased salaries for 
teachers, attention to their physical health and comfort, and the 
naming of a special commission to study the conditions of the schools 
and children of the rural districts. Such a move marks a distinct 
advance in educational thought and administration, by which atten- 

117572°— 19 2 



10 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

tion was first called on Italian soil to the essential difference be- 
tween the problems of the city and country schools. 

Closely related is the subject of agricultural instruction in the ele- 
mentary schools, about which much discussion has centered within 
the past two years. There has been a growing feeling that aside 
from the lack or coordination between the subjects taught in the ele- 
mentary rural schools and the environment of the rural children, 
there is also a very pronounced hiatus in the system between the 
lower agricultural schools and the elementary schools, by which 
many children naturally inclined to the study of applied agriculture 
have no opportunity or encouragement to pursue it. The clear-cut 
demand voiced in manjr quarters for the establishment of distinctive 
rural schools has, in a degree, taken the place of a move for the 
development of the elementary schools along specifically agricul- 
tural lines, being popularly regarded as a substitute for these. Yet 
many persons interested in education have pointed out that, while 
each project has its peculiar advantages, the incorporation of ele- 
mentary agricultural and horticultural courses in the already ex- 
istent elementary schools is more practical, reaches a larger propor- 
tion of pupils, and can be more speedily put into operation, with far 
less expense and difficulty of adjustment of teachers and courses 
than would be possible with the distinctive rural schools projected. 
A foreshadowing of this will be seen below in the section devoted 
to the training of teachers, where it is emphasized that preparation 
for imparting instruction in sciences adapted to local needs has been 
given a prominent place in the new teachers' courses. 

(d) AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 

By royal decree of 1907 elementary schools of agriculture were es- 
tablished with the aim of preparing students for intermediate and 
advanced institutions. They offer a three years' course in Italian, 
language, history, and geography, mathematics and applied geom- 
etry, surveying, drawing, calculation, elementary physical and natu- 
ral sciences, and in the last year intensive training in agriculture and 
related industries. In 1917 there were 29 of these, only one of which 
was for women. They are situated in larger centers, enroll local 
students almost exclusively, and do not especially appeal to rural 
students. On the latter account, some dissatisfaction has been ex- 
pressed with them, and plans have been projected to remove them 
from their town and urban surroundings, and transplant them to 
sites where experimental farms and first-hand study of concrete 
problems may be feasible. Such removals would also afford valuable 
object lessons for the native rural population, as showing the desire 
of the Government to become acquainted with and to remedy back- 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 11 

ward conditions in remote communities. It was largely out of this 
dissatisfaction that the demand for the establishment of rural schools 
and agricultural courses in the elementary rural schools grew. 

The entire subject of agricultural instruction, in all its grades, has 
drawn unprecedented impetus from the growing conviction brought 
home to the nation by the war that in the economic and social recon- 
struction after the war agriculture must play the largest part, and, 
furthermore, that if education is to be nationalized, the start must 
be made by giving the study of agriculture the most prominent place 
in the schools. Thus the different phases of the discussion of agri- 
culture in the schools are but interrelated branches of the one uniform 
and urgent problem. 

(e) VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

The auspicious start made toward building up a complete system 
of vocational training by the provisions of the law secured by Min- 
ister de Nava, in 1912, has not been followed by satisfactory actual 
results. That law called for the establishment of one elementary 
vocational school based immediately upon the lower elementary 
schools in each commune of 10,000 or more inhabitants, excluding the 
larger cities. There are estimated to be 800 such communes ; and as 
the aggregate expense, amounting to 13,000,000 lire ($2,600,000), 
was from the first a deterrent to the execution of the law, only a few 
have been established in the most progressive communes. Another 
article in the law provided for the establishment of vocational 
schools for the advanced training of young workmen from 13 to 18 
years who have attended the upper elementary schools or have had 
practical apprentice instruction for two years in addition to the leav- 
ing certificate of the lower elementary schools. It is estimated that 
the number of these youths is approximately a million, and that to 
establish and adequately equip the necessary number of such schools 
at least 5,000,000 lire additional would be required. Attention has 
repeatedly been called by social workers to the great good such schools 
would do ; and it is to be hoped that among the first tasks undertaken 
in the reconstruction of Italy's school system after the war will be 
the revival of the De Nava law on vocational education. 

An interesting experiment in lowering the age and requirements 
necessary for pupils to enter essentially vocational schools has been 
made near Castillo, in Umbria, for boys of the invaded district 
between 9 and 14 years. Organized under the legal title of Colonie 
dei Giovine Lavoratori, and by private beneficence, the project 
was regarded as of such social significance that an original grant 
of 75,000 lire ($15,000), supplemented bj subsequent ones, was made 
by the Minister of Arms and Munitions, and later increased by 



12 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

subscriptions from the American Red Cross and private benefactions. 
The first colonia to be established has for its scope to secure tracts 
of unused land, to organize the labor of the boys applying for 
entrance, and to offer not only agricultural courses but also, by 
arrangements with the industries of neighboring centers, training 
in trades and handicrafts. There is also contemplated an essentially 
instructional side in a four years' elementary course, supplemented 
by a two years' popular course, but of more intensive character than 
the scuole popolare. In view of the unusual circumstances of the 
students, especial attention to ethical training is felt to be necessary. 
If successful it is hoped that the Government will take over the 
movement, and the experiment be expanded to a chain of such 
colonic 

(f) EXTRA-SCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES. ; 

Signs of the awakening of the schools to national service along 
many lines apart from the strictly scholastic abound during the 
past two years. Exhibits of didactic material, manufactured by 
school children, have been held at various points, notably at Naples, 
showing both regional products and use of materials, as well as 
national character and utility. The real economic value, also, was 
plain, in view of the closing of the Italian frontiers, and the cutting 
off of school supplies as well as others. Amid these most adverse 
conditions the discovery that Italian talent was able to devise and 
make school-room equipment constituted a long step forward in 
Italy's economic emancipation. In pursuance of the project of a 
national system of book printing and binding set forth by a meeting 
of all interested in handicrafts, held at Milan in April, 1917, courses 
in bookbinding in certain city schools were attempted, and excellent 
work along this line has been exhibited. The Association of Teach- 
ers of Physical Training in Italy, meeting in June, 1917, vigorously 
urged definite courses in physical training and especially that sports 
be incorporated in the elementary schools. The latter demand drew 
unexpected impetus from the physical training imparted recruits, 
with the consequent radical improvement in physique and morale. 
Advocates of the movement claimed to see in the final triumph on 
the Piave the manifest proof of the value of sports and athletics. 
Schools of child welfare have been established at various points, 
generally in connection with orphanages and asili for destitute chil- 
dren from the invaded regions. Their aim has been to give a practi- 
cal and solid basis of training to all persons intrusted with the care 
of children, to diffuse a knowledge of the rules of hygiene among 
the women of Italy, especially in the crowded centers and in remote 
sections, and thus to combat Italy's high rate of infant mortality. 
While not under the control of the Government, these schools have 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 13 

had its cordial encouragement and frequent subsidies for certain 
lines of investigation, and they have exercised a definite reciprocal 
effect upon the official system of public instruction. 

HOSPITAL SCHOOLS FOR WOUNDED ITALIAN SOLDIERS. 

Wounded Italian soldiers were given elementary instruction in 
hospital schools at various points, conducted by teachers assigned 
from the public schools and by volunteers. Chief of these were the 
schools at Milan and Naples, which led the way in securing govern- 
mental inspection and concession of the right of examinations for 
the third-grade finishing certificate of the elementary schools. The 
work was organized along the two lines of instruction for total 
illiterates, and for backward soldiers of mental advancement meas- 
ured by the work of the fifth and sixth elementary. Classes in choral 
singing were introduced with the aim of discovering wounded men 
of musical abilities and training them for popular choral instruction. 
Marked interest was aroused among the pupils of the public schools 
by a governmental appeal for voluntary contributions to a perma- 
nent fund for reeducation work among the soldiers. Practically 
every elementary school in the Kingdom contributed. 

Accounts of this eminently successful work are of real pedagogical 
value to students of the relative capacities and aptitudes of children 
and adults. The following extracts are taken from the account of 
Signorina Paltrinieri, one of the teachers in the Milan school, who 
has best outlined the spirit and significance of this work in the life 
of the nation: 

These schools were not for the physical rehabilitation of the wounded, nor 
for their training in trades and crafts; they were for the teaching of book 
subjects and for adults, most of whom, even the youngest, would seem beyond 
the plastic age. And yet the results were amazing. 

As regards the teaching material, all were peasants or drawn from the lowest 
urban classes, economically and socially. Most were unable to read and write, 
though many had attended one or more of the first three grades of the ele- 
mentary schools, but had dropped out and had forgotten practically all they 
had ever learned. The distinctive characteristic common to all was the intense 
desire to retrieve lost time and opportunities. The hospital schoolroom was 
not only crowded during school hours, but was after hours a center for those 
wishing to finish tasks and to talk over problems connected with the lessons. 
There were many points of difference between the ordinary school urchin and 
these feverishly ardent boys of larger growth. These soldier pupils forgot 
that the day was a holiday. They always had in the bookbag the book and 
copybook and pencil needed and were always proof against such distractions 
as impede the usual elementary school. To them the conquering of the task in 
hand was the vital point. 

The reasons given by the soldier pupils for their ignorance were strikingly 
illuminating for the life and psychology of the people ; the schoolhouse was toe 
far from home, the boy had no good clothes, the family could not or would 



14 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

not get along without his earnings, etc. With yet others plain laziness and 
loafing, confessed with boyish ingeniousness, made them shirk, and they quit 
school as soon as possible. " If my daddy (pare) had only given me a sound 
licking and marched me off to school " was the most common lament, voiced 
in all the dialects of Italy. 

In point of intelligence, pure and simple, the child has an undoubted ad- 
vantage over the adult. His mind is fresh, open, ready to receive the stamp 
upon the proverbial wax. The adult is what he is. We can make him better ; 
we can change the directions of his thoughts and ideas ; but mold him as we 
mil — no. 

In application, of course, the adult has the indisputable advantage. He knows 
the hours for lessons are limited. He is determined to get the very most out 
of them. His attention is seldom distracted. Even distinguished visitors — 
so eagerly welcomed by children — can not break the severe and imperturbable 
calm of these soldier pupils. Visitors pass from bench to bench, smiling, en- 
thusiastic, patronizing. These model pupils look up, answer respectfully, smile 
from the depths of those inscrutable eyes — and even before the disturbing ele- 
ment is well out of the room have plunged again into their tasks. 

As regards the will, this is the wedge for the adult. By dint of patience, 
of study, of determination, they do the impossible. The will, too, acts power- 
fully on their physical condition. Men, wounded in the right hand, grasped 
the pen and guiding the wounded member with the sound one, day by day 
by desperate efforts gained freedom of movement. Men with head wounds 
suffered terribly under certain atmospheric conditions, but they never missed 
school. 

In experience of life and stock of ideas no comparison is possible. Other consid- 
erations apart, an enormous saving of time and energy was found in not having 
to explain the ordinary phenomena of life to the adult, as has to be done with 
the child. The adult applies everything as he progresses. In point of stock of 
words, however, the child does not differ so markedly from the illiterate adult. 
The Italian peasant, no matter of what dialect, has an extremely limited vocabu- 
lary. So has the child. But the child is always, consciously and unconsciously, 
enlarging his stock of words ; the adult is content with what he has. 

Coming now to the application of these diverse mental aptitudes to the 
acquisition of school subjects, less difficulty in direction was encountered by the 
child than by the adult. The child has a tabula rasa of a mind. He hears a 
sound clear and distinct. He does not confuse it with other sounds. It does not 
start in him a train of kindred concepts. He puts down what he hears. The 
adult, on the other hand, hears a sound ; it awakens innumerable dormant asso- 
ciations. His dialect is another ever-present obstacle. The struggle to cut 
these away is unceasingly hard. Repetition, untiring repetition by teacher and 
pupil, is indispensable. 

On the subject of composition for literary form the child's composition is 
better ; for subject matter, the adults. A soldier had for some time been in an 
agony of suspense at not hearing from home. One day he had assigned to him 
as a theme to write a letter home asking some favor. He fell to work and wrote 
desperately, the teacher watching him. The letter was full of ardent affection, 
of deep grief, of hope, of encouragement to his dear ones, but on the theme as- 
signed nothing. He protested with emotion that he could not write to ask a 
favor of poor folk who had hardly a roof over their heads. 

In arithmetic and calculation, as is to be expected, the adult far outstrips the 
child. No time is wasted on the tables with soldiers — that inexhaustible foun- 
tainhead of wasted time for children. The man does the problem, does it 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 15 

correctly, verifies it, out of some incident in his old trade or calling and goes on 
acquiring new facility. 

In penmanshp and drawing, as between the man and the child, the adult has 
a hardness of muscle, the child a weakness of hand. The man has the better 
trained eye and sense of proportion, the child a singleness of vision and an 
ability to isolate the object. 

In reading, the adult has advantages of application that enable him to do 
in two or three months what it takes the child a year to do. The intensive 
drill upon individual letters is feasible and fruitful with adults, being a drill 
soldier pupils enjoy and continue after hours. 

As regards the explanation of passages read, adults make a better showing 
than children. The quicker witted and more attentive the child is, the more 
does he tend to repeat the words of the original. The adult, on the contrary, 
changes, adapts, discourses on it, if he is talkative, brings it to the touch- 
stone of his own experience, approves or rebukes, in brief, incorporates it 
into his mental life. 

So with grammar, with history, with geography, with oral arithmetic, with 
the elements of physical sciences, each one chronicles a series of victories for 
the adult over the child. Take the field of history. The child thinks the reign 
of Servius Tullius the least interesting of all ; the adult, though a peasant, 
grasps the force of its economic and social changes. The child will glibly tell of 
the exile of Charles Albert, adding pathetic personal touches ; the man will tell 
of the importance of his connection with the constitution of 1848. 

Now, what are the net results of this teaching of adult soldier-pupils? Il- 
literates, or practically such, in less than one year passed the examination di 
compimento (admission to the fifth grade). At the Ospedale delta Ouastalla, 
an illiterate Sicilian lad, with a severe wound in his head, from which the 
fragment of shell could not be extracted, and with his left side completely 
paralyzed, passed the examination with the following marks on a basis of 10; 
8 in dictation, grammar, oral and written arithmetic ; 7 in explanation of 
passages read ; 6 in penmanship, composition, and reading. 

Rather industrial than instructional in scope, but closely related is 
the work of the National Association for Artistic and Industrial 
Assistance to the Wounded and the Invalided, organized in July, 
1917, and counting among its membership thousands of eminent men 
and women in all parts of Italy. Its aims are to forward the artistic 
and industrial progress of soldier pupils by governmental and local 
encouragement, to assist former pupils in the establishment of busi- 
ness, to assist in the disposal of their products for them by the estab- 
lishment of provincial and urban magazines, to enlist the active 
cooperation of eminent artists in all parts of Italy, and to organize 
committees in every part of Italy. The work of the association has 
been of great value in spreading an interest in matters artistic among 
the masses of the people, and in showing them the means of develop- 
ing latent talent. 

(h) PROJECTED PLANS FOR SCHOOLS AFTER THE WAR. 

Since early in the war steadily increasing attention has been de- 
voted to the subjects and methods of public instruction adapted to 
post-war conditions. This took definite shape in the appointment, 



16 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

in June, 1918, by royal decree, of a commission, headed by the Min- 
ister of Public Instruction and composed of members of the Con- 
siglio Superiore and persons eminent in the educational life of 
Italy, to study and report upon the subjects and form of education 
adapted to the solution of the most urgent problems that will then 
confront the nation. The scope of this commission as a whole is 
practically unlimited, comprising, as it does, all forms of national, 
social, and educational activity. It will work by sections, one of 
which will have under its especial charge the study of national cul- 
ture, educational and instructional. The tentative outline of the 
activities of the commission indicates that it will study not merely 
the transitory and superficial measures necessitated by disarmament, 
but the graver problems consequent thereon. The commission is 
instructed to take a historical survey of Italian school life under all 
its phases and to avail itself of all social and educational investiga- 
tions undertaken hj official and private organizations. The appoint- 
ment of the commission has been received with enthusiasm by Italian 
teachers of all grades, who indicate an ardent wish to cooperate in 
all its labors. 

By an interesting coincidence the composite report of the com- 
mission appeared the same week as the signing of the armistice. 
The plan of the several educational reforms, unanimously approved 
and recommended for immediate action, fell under the following 
heads : 

1. The thorough execution of all school laws and the overhauling 
of the national financial system to this end. 

2. The organic inclusion, within the national system of education, 
of kindergartens and nursery schools by means of the subsidizing or 
nationalizing of existing ones, and the establishment of many others. 

3. The continuous construction, within the period of five years, of 
all school buildings lacking to the needs of population and the legal 
announcement of compulsory attendance upon them. 

4. The establishment of at least one compulsory school of four 
grades in each commune. 

5. The establishment of especially adapted secondary schools for 
the preliminary professional training of teachers. 

6. The raising of the minimum salary of teachers to 3,000 lire 
($600) and the investing of the teaching profession with enhanced 
moral and social prestige. 

7. The lengthening of the school year and the requirement of the 
teacher to take part in civic and communal tasks. 

8. The fixing of the final leaving age of pupils at 18 years. 

9. The establishment of compulsory schools for illiterate adults 
up to 45 years. 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 17 

10. The establishment, on the application of communal authori- 
ties, of popular courses, schools of hygiene and sanitation, lan- 
guages, etc. 

11. The subordination of the national budget to the needs of 
popular education, and not vice versa. 

12. The paying of greater attention to woman's place in the na- 
tional life, with especial regard to the needs of peasant and labor- 
ing women. 

To students of education the striking feature of this move is 
the proof it affords that Italy conceives of no renewal of her eco- 
nomic life without the accompanying reform in her educational 
system. 

III. MIDDLE SCHOOLS. 

In the Italian scheme of education the scuole medie are held to 
include industrial and commercial schools, the istituti tecnici, the 
normal schools, the ginnasi and the licei. 

(a) INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS. 

The exigencies of the war have brought out clearly the need of 
reform in the general group of industrial schools, occupying as these 
do so important a place in the practical training of the nation's 
youth. Especial attention began to center two years ago upon the 
industrial and commercial divisions, and early in 1917, by minis- 
terial decree, the few schools of this type already in existence were 
developed, their numbers largely increased, and their relations with 
the elementary schools below and with the istituti tecnici above were 
clearly denned. 

The industrial schools thus enlarged are denominated Royal In- 
dustrial Schools of the Second Grade. They are 103 in number, sit- 
uated in the populous centers, and designed to offer in a four-years 
course the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for the 
future heads of artistic and industrial manufacturing establishments. 
To the first class of these schools are admitted pupils having either 
(a) a certificate of promotion from the vocational schools of the 
1st grade, or (b) the leaving certificate from the higher elementary 
schools, or (c) in the discretion of the director, those 12 years of 
age and presenting an examination upon selected subjects comprised 
in the programs of the higher elementary course. Continuous prog- 
ress in the industrial school group was further sought in the new 
rules for the admission of pupils from the industrial schools of the 
2nd grade to the more highly specialized schools of the 3d grade. 
For this was accepted, (a) the leaving certificates of the technical or 



18 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

complementary school, royal or private, or (b) the certificate of pro- 
motion from the second to the third communal course of the Royal 
Institute of Fine Arts, or (o) certificate of promotion examination, 
or (d) the leaving certificate of a royal commercial school of the 
second grade with special examination on selected subjects. The 

19 royal industrial or vocational schools of the third grade offer spe- 
cialized courses in weaving and dyeing, silk industry, working on 
hides and skins, mechanics, paper industry, forestry, typography ; 
electric engineering, and radio-telegraphy. Admission of pupils 
of the second grade to them also requires the certificate specifying 
the specialty in which the pupil has worked, or the leaving certifi- 
cate of the commercial school embracing subjects continued in the 
royal vocational schools. 

Similarly the 27 royal commercial schools of the second grade 
hold the same rank as the industrial, affording instruction for man- 
agers and employees of commercial pursuits, and offering a course 
covering four years, or, in the case of schools annexed to a royal 
commercial school of the third grade or advanced grade, three 
years. Admission to the first class of the commercial schools of the 
second grade is (a) upon completion of 10 years of age and the 
certificate of the matv/ritd examination from the higher elementary 
schools, or (b) the leaving certificates of the royal commercial 
school, or (c) certified three years' attendance thereon, or (d) in 
the discretion of the director, completion of 12 years of age and the 
passing of examination upon selected subjects of the course of the 
commercial school. The 11 royal commercial schools of the third 
grade, located in the large cities, admit only complete graduates of 
schools of the second grade. 

By the regulation, especial attention is paid to the professional 
qualifications of the directors of these respective schools. The di- 
rector of the industrial school shall be in immediate charge of in- 
struction in the technical subjects and the related applied sciences. 
If in a women's school, the directress shall be in immediate charge of 
the subjects of a domestic or graphic nature, or those constituting 
the basis of the school's existence. Similarly, in the royal commercial 
school the director shall be in immediate supervision of instruction in 
the subjects of international commerce and trade, physical, political 
and commercial geography, and legal and economic subjects. 

(b) TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. 

Ranking immediately above the industrial and commercial schools 
of the second grade are the technical schools intermediate between 
the higher elementary schools and the istituti tecnici, admitting 
pupils upon the completion of the higher elementary courses, and 
upon special examination in Italian, mathematics, and the elements 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 19 

of the physical sciences. Their courses cover three years, and upon 
their completion the pupil is admitted to the istituti tecnici, the most 
highly specialized of all the divisions of secondary education. In the 
field of the lower technical schools Sig. Berenini has proposed to the 
Consiglio Superiore certain reforms calculated to subserve more fully 
the scientific needs of the nation. Chief among these are : 

1. The decrease of two hours weekly in the schedule of each class, 
thus leaving three afternoons per week free of teaching, to be de- 
voted preferably to physical education and the combination of the 
sciences and mathematics, thus preserving in the school all the sub- 
jects prescribed by the law. 

2. The lightening of some subjects and distribution of others 
through the three years, as, for example, in Italian, the abolition 
of all rules of composition as well as all memorizing of names in 
Italian literature; the coordination of all study of Italian literature 
with history, substituting for the systematic and chronological study 
of history the biographical and episodic method ; the reservation of 
the difficult points of cosmography for the second class; the begin- 
ning of geometry in the first class, and its limitation to a purely 
experimental and graphic nature. 

3. The rendering identical the technical schools for girls with those 
for boys, in subjects, arrangement of courses, and schedules, except 
for instruction in domestic arts. 

(c) NORMAL SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 

The training of teachers for the elementary schools of Italy was 
earnestly and continuously discussed for years before Italy's en- 
trance into the war. With new and unprecedented demands upon 
the schools, there has been a growing conviction that the traditional 
subjects and methods of training teachers were too exclusively 
literary to prepare teachers for the elementary school and that they 
must be thoroughly reconstructed. Under the existing system, 
teachers are trained in normal schools, separate for men and women, 
and offering three years' courses in pedagogy, lectures and theory, 
ethics, Italian language, literature, history and geography, mathe- 
matics, elements of natural sciences, hygiene, drawing, penmanship, 
elements of agriculture, gymnastics, and practice teaching in the 
first grade of the elementary school. For men, gymnastics and 
manual arts, and for women, household arts and kindergarten teach- 
ing are also required. Completion of the studies of the higher ele- 
mentary school with examinations on selected subjects is necessary 
for admission. 

In the criticism of the old order of training, and the demand for 
a more modern type, individuals, teacher's associations, and the 



20 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

press participated. The National Teachers' Association, meeting 
in Rome in 1918 and using as a basis the results of the referendum 
taken among the teachers of 17 cities and towns, well summed up 
the situation as follows : 

The elementary school had in the last few years become com- 
pletely transformed in its character, and the demands made upon 
it had changed as well. It had doubled its content, and in its 
programs, no matter with what shortcomings, was at least attempt- 
ing to embrace a new field of activities, and so to keep abreast of 
modern conditions. With this development, the normal schools, 
through no fault of their own, had not kept pace. They had been 
forced to continue to train teachers for the simple and primitive 
schools of half a century ago, long since outgrown, and they simply 
could not give adequate preparation for the complex demands of 
modern life. 

This nation-wide demand for normal teaching reform crystalized 
early in 1918 in a bill presented by Sig. Berenini for passage by 
the Italian Parliament. Its progressive nature once made known, 
the bill found instant and hearty support, and the senate passed it 
with but little delay. In the Chamber of Deputies, however, it en- 
countered unexpected opposition, and in June, 1918, was referred to 
a conference committee. Though its actual enactment was thus post- 
poned, yet its passage is confidently anticipated. In content and 
scope this bill marks so decided an advance in the training of na- 
tional teachers as to merit a careful examination of its main lines, 
based upon the actual legal provisions. 

1. Purpose. — The teachers' institute (istituto magistrate) has the 
aim of preparing teachers for the elementary and popular schools. 
It shall be for men and for women, separate. If for men, it shall 
be of four years ; if for women, seven years, the first two years to be 
counted as belonging to the istituti of the first grade, and the last five 
to those of the second grade. 

2. Relation to the present normal schools. — The existing normal 
schools for women, with the annexed practice schools, are to be trans- 
formed into women's istituti magistrali of seven years; those without 
annexed practice schools are to be transformed into men's istituti 
magistrali of four years, corresponding to the last four years of the 
seven-year type, particular details to be left to the ministerial decree. 
Existing provincial, communal and other istituti for the training of 
teachers may secure rating as istituti magistrali upon conforming in 
all respects to the present law. 

3. Subjects to be taught. — The subjects of the first six classes of 
the women's istituti shall be: Italian language, literature, history 
and geography, general pedagogy and ethics, French, mathematics, 
physical and natural sciences, domestic arts, drawing and penman- 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 21 

ship, singing and physical education. The subjects to be taught in 
the first three classes of the men's istituti shall be identical with 
those for the corresponding years of women's istituti, except for the 
addition of agriculture, hygiene, and two years of manual arts. In 
the last class of all istituti shall be: History and methodology of 
pedagogy, hygiene, agriculture, singing, advanced physical edu- 
cation, and practice teaching in the annexed elementary or 
popular school, or kindergarten. Instruction in hygiene is to be 
imparted by specialists, and that in agriculture by a traveling in- 
structor, or by an instructor in a neighboring practical school of 
agriculture, or by governmentally certified individuals. In localities 
where constant emigration exists, instruction may be imparted to 
pupils of the last year by qualified persons on the Government, in- 
dustries, social conditions, etc., of the countries to which such emi- 
gration tends, in 10 lessons outside the regular schedule. For each 
such course of instruction in hygiene, agriculture, and emigration a 
fee of 20 lire ($4) per year may be charged. The weekly schedule 
of the istituto magistrate shall not exceed 24 hours for any class, not 
including those devoted to singing and physical education. Details 
of the order of subjects, etc., shall be determined by the subsequent 
ministerial regulations. 

If.. Annexed practice schools. — To every istituto magistrate, shall 
be annexed for purposes of practice teaching at least one complete 
grade of the elementary or popular school, under the direction of 
the head of the istituto; and if there are more than three sections 
of these there shall be annexed one additional grade of the practice 
school for each section. To every women's istituto there shall be 
annexed one class at least of the asili infantilis it being left to 
ministerial regulation to reorganize the existing Frcebelian classes 
in accordance with the needs of the istituto. Subject to the general 
oversight of the head of the istituto, the management of the annexed 
practice schools shall be entrusted to the professor of pedagogy, 
except that the courses in mathematics, physical and natural sciences 
in such practice schools shall be entrusted to the teacher of these 
sciences. In instructional matters the teacher of pedagogy shall be 
assisted by the professor of manual arts and drawing in such manner 
as shall be determined by ministerial decree. 

5. Admission to the istituti magistrali. — Admission to the first 
class of the women's seven-year course shall be the same as that 
required for admission to the first class of the middle schools of 
the first grade; to all other classes by promotion examination. 

Admission to the first class of the men's four-year istituto shall 
be by certificate of promotion from the third to the fourth class of 
the ginnasi on the basis of the required examination; to all the 
other classes by promotion examination. 



22 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

6. Relation to other schools. — The relation between the several 
classes of the istituto magistrate and the other middle schools shall 
be determined by the Giunta of the Consiglio Superiore. Promotion 
shall be governed by the rules in force for the other middle schools; 
but examinations shall be obligatory throughout the school year, 
and in pedagogy and ethics up to the end of the next to the last year. 
A special examination on hygiene and agriculture is required at 
the end of the course. Passing of the yearly examinations upon 
singing and physical education is required for promotion and for the 
qualification for teaching. 

7. Diplomas, fees, etc. — The istituti magistrali confer the diploma 
of qualification for teaching in elementary and popular schools 
upon the completion of the respective seven or four years' courses. 
Candidates must have completed their eighteenth year. 

Graduated fees for admission, attendance, and examinations in 
various subjects and years are charged. 

8. Equipment. — Every istituto magistrate, both for men and 
women, shall be provided with (a) a scientific cabinet for instruc- 
tion and experiment, in charge of the respective teachers; (b) labo- 
ratories for manual arts, hygiene, agriculture, drawing, and practice 
teaching, each in charge of the respective teacher; (c) a teachers' 
museum for instruction and practice teaching, in charge of the 
teacher of pedagogy; (d) a library and reading room, in charge of 
the teacher of history and geography; and (e) a well-equipped 
gymnasium and hall for teachers of physical education and singing. 
For expenses incurred under this head, 150,000 lire ($30,000) shall 
be appropriated for 1918-19, to be increased by 50,000 annually up 
to 300,000 lire. 

9. Maintenance. — The Province in which the istituto is situated 
shall provide the site and building, the furniture and school equip- 
ment, exclusive of the strictly didactic apparatus detailed above, 
and lighting and heating service. The commune in which the isti- 
tuto is situated shall provide the site, buildings, and equipments of 
the practice schools annexed, and the salaries of the teachers em- 
ployed in them. The Government shall provide the salaries of the 
teaching personnel of the istituto itself. 

10. Teachers. — The teachers of the istituto shall be as follows, with 
the grouping of subjects as indicated : 

One teacher (Class A 1 ) of pedagogy, ethics, and practice teach- 
ing; 3 teachers (2 of Class A and 1 of Class B) of the Italian lan- 
guage, literature and history, and geography; 1 teacher (Class A) 
of French; 1 teacher (Class A) of natural sciences; 1 teacher (Class 

1 By Class A are denoted incumbents of the full chair, with complete control of subject 
and methods. By Classes B and C are denoted assistants and subordinates, responsible 
to higher authority. 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 2 



9 



A) of manual arts; 1 teacher (Class B) of drawing and penman- 
ship; 1 teacher (Class B) of domestic arts; 1 teacher (Class C) of 
physical education; and 1 instructor of hygiene and singing. 

If in women's istituto, 1 teacher, of Class B, of domestic arts, and 
1 mistress of the infant class. 

Especial care shall be had in the selection of the teacher of manual 
arts. He shall be selected only by competitive examination and 
must be a person holding the regular qualifying degree in manual 
arts; or, under temporary provisions of the ministerial regulation, 
a person who has for four years taken summer courses in these sub- 
jects, with successful qualifying examinations. For the men's isti- 
tuto, also, an instructor in agriculture is required. With the view 
of ultimately establishing distinctive schools of manual arts, provi- 
sion shall be made in the men's istituto, in the discretion of the 
Consiglio Superiore, for two years' courses in manual arts, embracing 
practical exercises, mechanics, technical training, drawing, and the 
history and theory of manual-arts education. 

11. Application of the law. — The present law, in its practical ef- 
fects and modifications of groups of studies, shall be gradually ap- 
plied from the beginning of the school year of 1918-19, in accordance) 
with specific regulations to be promulgated by the Consiglio Su- 
periore. Administrative heads of the present normal schools shall 
be ex officio heads of the new istituti magistrali. 

Despite some points on which there is a difference of opinion 
among educational thinkers — as, for example, the organic grouping 
of Italian history and geography in one chair — the spirit and pro- 
visions of the projected law receive practically universal approval 
throughout Italy. It is regarded as realizing reforms long needed 
in the training of teachers, especially in the following respects: In 
prolonging the course of study, in reducing the excessive number of 
hours of weekly schedule, in abolishing pretentious striving after 
effect, in combining related courses of instruction, in organically 
correlating them, and so leading the pupil up to the concentration 
upon exclusively pedagogical subjects during the last year. The 
consensus of opinion is that while a more radical project for the 
training of teachers might have been presented, the one actually 
formulated is practical and feasible, and, while not too far in ad- 
vance of the existing system, yet marks a long step forward in secur- 
ing a national body of teachers better trained than any preceding 
one. 

(d) GIN NASI AND LICEI. 

The wave of criticism directed against the various grades of edu- 
cation did not stop short of the traditional, and by their very nature, 
conservative middle schools of these titles. Appealing as they do 



24 BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

almost exclusively to boys intended for the universities and the pro- 
fessions, they have more steadily and successfully resisted all inno- 
vating projects than any other type. However, even the traditional 
ginnasio-liceo of the classical type, while it has maintained intact 
its eight years of prevailingly cultural character with emphasis 
upon the ancient classics, has yet had to accept one hour additional 
weekly in history throughout the course, an hour additional in 
mathematics for two years, and compulsory study of physics, chem- 
istry, and physical education. These modifications were the work 
of the Consiglio Superiore, in 1917, which thus sought to adapt 
this type of institution to the urgent needs of additional instruc- 
tion in sciences brought out by the war. Furthermore, criticism of 
static conditions shown by the enrollment of schools of this narrow 
type as contrasted with the far younger technical schools of the 
same grade had its effect in the demand for change. It was pointed 
out that the 458 schools of the traditional type, scattered over Italy, 
enrolled only 13,000 more pupils in 1917 than they did in 1901— 
54,000 against 44,000; whereas the newer technical schools, number- 
ing 461 and existing only in central and northern Italy, had ad- 
vanced from 50,621 pupils in 1901 to 182,194 in 1917. 

Italian critics of this traditional type of school maintain that its 
chief weakness is the excessive extension of the programs of study, 
due to the desire of the educational authorities to please both parties 
and to impart at once a general and a special culture. Out of this 
very complexity has grown, however, an institution of a very useful 
nature, and one that, properly modified, bids fair to arrive at a happy 
mean intermediate between the two systems of training. This is the 
institution denominated since 1911 the ginnasio-liceo moderno, and 
approaching closely the type of scientific high school in America. 
By a species of compromise, the Consiglio Superiore in 1917 in- 
creased the total number of hours of instruction in Latin to 41, the 
largest assigned any one subject, but at the same time it increased 
the requirements in modern languages by one hour weekly in each 
throughout the entire course, allowed alternation between English 
and German, and increased the already existent scientific require- 
ments. Despite the demand in this as in other fields for the diminu- 
tion of hours of weekly recitation the excessive number already ex- 
isting was left untouched even in the ginnasi-licei moderni, ranging 
from 22 to 27 or 28 hours, thus affording proof of its unchanged con- 
servatism. 

Discussion of the modifications in the middle school best adapted 
to suit needs after the war has already arisen. It is agreed that 
more attention must be paid the sciences, modern languages, and the 
modern sociological subjects; that the undue preponderance of ex- 
aminations must be abolished, with transfer of emphasis to the daily 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 25 

tasks; that the excessive number of pupils assigned to each teacher 
must be decreased to 30 or 40 ; and that better training must be de- 
manded for teachers. 

IV. UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION. 

While no fundamental university reform, projected or actual, is 
to be chronicled for the past two years as in the case of other 
branches of education in Italy, yet in spirit the universities have sus- 
tained significant changes in adapting themselves heartily to the war 
needs of the nation. It is safe to say that no other intellectual in- 
fluence has been so powerful in waking the nation to a just conception 
of the historical and ethnological reasons for Italy's entrance into 
the war, and in keeping alive the sentiments of patriotism and con- 
secration to duty as has been that of the universities. The first 
meeting of the National Association of University Professors to be 
held under war conditions gathered in Rome in December, 1916. The 
subjects proposed for discussion reflected the new and vigorous spirit 
that had come to be infused into the ancient seats of learning : 

1. The future of the Italian book, and the ways and means of 
developing the national publication of literary and scientific mate- 
rial. 

2. Methods of fuller participation by the universities in the aims 
and prosecution of the war. 

3. The attracting of foreign students to Italian universities, and 
the proper rating to be given them for work presented. 

4. The development of a national system of science, with endow- 
ments of scientific museums, cabinets, and laboratories. 

5. Fundamental reforms in university administration and instruc- 
tion relative to war needs, especially in the schools of pedagogy, the 
literatures of allied countries, and the applied sciences. 

6. War-time preparation to be required of entering students. 

7. Reasons for the resumption of the competitions for university 
chairs falling vacant, the naming of the rectors by the ministry 
only for the period of the war, and guarantees of impartial hearing 
of university professors under charges before impartial and com- 
petent authorities, and a system of international interchange of pro- 
fessors. 

Formulated reports embodying the sentiment of the association 
upon these topics were transmitted for the approval of the minister 
and for his support for legal enactment. 

In the essentially instructional domain, of interest is the concerted 
move to enlarge and extend the teaching of modern languages in 
many of the larger Italian universities. Fostered by the Minister 
of Public Instruction and the Consiglio Superiore, especial efforts 



26 BIENNIAL SUKVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

have been made to establish chairs of English language and litera- 
ture, with immediate installation of " lectors " for a limited period 
of service, thus allowing time and opportunity to secure men of 
eminent attainments for permanent professorships. In the modern 
languages the courses of instruction are of the same standard as 
those for Latin and Greek, except that in addition to the teaching 
professor, a lecturer is engaged so that students may perfect them- 
selves in the actual pronunciation and use of the language. By 
decree of the Minister of Public Instruction, issued in November, 
1918, eight university chairs of English language and literature were 
established, the designation of the particular universities being re- 
served. The Universities of Bologna and Turin have already estab- 
lished courses for the study of French, English, Spanish, and 
German. 

Of even greater importance were the recommendations of the 
special committee appointed upon the project of a special scientific 
baccalaureate. These were approved by the minister and by him 
transmitted to the Consiglior Superiore. As finally amended March, 
1917, their main outlines were as follows: 

1. In addition to existent degrees not affected by this regulation, 
the royal universities are empowered to confer on Italians as well as 
foreigners a special degree based on specific scientific training and 
studies freely chosen in accordance with these recommendations. 
Except in case of approved equivalence such special degree shall not 
have the value of professional qualifications, nor for admission to 
competition for posts in official service. 

2. The studies for the attainment of the special degree shall have 
a duration of at least four years and embrace at least 12 duly cer- 
tified courses, chosen by the candidate in the several faculties or 
schools. For such courses shall be counted only those specially 
related to the sciences, to be taken contemporaneously under diverse 
teachers or successively under the same teacher and leading uni- 
formly to the development of one general theme. The years of in- 
struction followed in foreign institutions are counted as by the rules 
hitherto in force; and for a fourth of the course to be pursued 
enrollment in the courses of the free universities may be counted 
when the programs and the development are adjudged of equal 
value for the ends contemplated in this regulation. 

3. Not later than the end of the third year of his studies the 
candidate must indicate the group in which he intends to take his 
degree, the course pursued, and those he intends to pursue. All 
details are left to the discretion of the teachers of the special group 
concerned. 

4. The student, upon completion of his studies and presentation 
of the dissertation, shall be admitted to the examinations under the 



EDUCATION IN ITALY. 27 

rules in force governing degrees, which shall still be in force in all 
matters not expressly mentioned in this regulation. 

The council of ministers enacted the recommendation into a royal 
decree, but onty as applying to foreign students. Subsequently rec- 
ognizing that this action denied to native students privileges granted 
to foreigners, they engaged at an early date to resume action upon it. 

Further administrative action necessitated by the war was taken in 
decrees of the minister and consigiio superiore providing for special 
dates and places of examinations for university and higher secondary 
students in military service convenient of access to posts and family 
residences; conceding to all students enrolled under professional 
and advanced academic faculties and called to service formal enroll- 
ment for 1915-6 in the immediately higher courses as if actually 
present; and admitting to any institution of higher grade, without 
fees, students from the invaded territories or from allied countries 
as a result of war conditions upon evidence of satisfactory attain- 
ments. 

Noteworthy is the inauguration, in 1917, of a " summer course in 
the Italian language and literature for foreigners of the allied na- 
tions," located in Siena. No other studies than those of language 
were offered. Courses were as follows, each of two hours weekly: 
Italian grammar, reading and pronunciation, readings in Dante, his- 
tory of Italian literature, history of art, practical exercises in trans- 
lation, correction of themes, and professors' conferences. Instructors 
were drawn from the faculty of the Royal University of Siena and 
from the teaching corps of the local ginnasio-liceo and the royal nor- 
mal school. Social and archaeological features planned were excur- 
sions to monuments, buildings, and historical scenes in the vicinity. 
The use of all facilities of the local educational institutions was 
freely accorded. 

By royal decree of December, 1917, the exchange of teachers be- 
tween the royal middle and normal schools of Italy and the sec- 
ondary higher schools of France was arranged for. The Italian 
teacher is to receive a compensation of not more than 2,500 lire 
($500), in the discretion of the Minister of Public Instruction, an 
allowance of as much as 30 per cent of his regular salary, and travel- 
ing expenses. The same purpose is manifest in the wider field of the 
Associazione italiana per Vintesa intellettuale fra i paesi alleati ed 
amici (Italian Society for Intellectual Relations between Allied and 
Friendly Countries), founded in 1917 at the University of Rome. 
Its president is Senator V. Volterra, and the names best known in 
the literature of Italy are represented in the committee which directs 
its work and in the trimestral review setting forth its work. Its aims 
are as follows: 



28 BIENNIAL SUKVEY OF EDUCATION, 1916-1918. 

(1) More active relations between the universities, academies, and, 
in general, educational institutions of the allied and friendly coun- 
tries. 

(2) Intensification of the teaching of the Italian language in for- 
eign countries, with wider teaching of the languages of allied and 
friendly countries in Italy. 

(3) International exchange of teachers of every rank. 

(4) Acknowledgment, based on reciprocity, of credits of admission 
to the universities and of the courses of lectures of the friendly and 
allied countries. 

(5) Exchange of students either for special studies or for general 
acquaintance with the different countries. 

(6) Facilitation of the exchange of publications and books devoted 
to a better knowledge of modern Italian literature. 

(7) Translation of the best Italian works into other languages. 

(8) Mutual cooperation in the field of science and its practical 
applications, and specially in that of private and international law. 

(9) Intellectual relations of every kind to render more close, dura- 
ble, and fruitful the union of the souls of the nations who fought tho 
battles of civilization together. 

At the beginning of 1918 the committee presented its plan of 
operation. It proposes to institute in the Ministry of Public In- 
struction an independent bureau which aims to promote and direct 
the exchange of teachers with foreign countries, to send abroad 
Italian savants for the purpose of teaching or pursuing scientific 
and historical researches, to invite to Italy with kindred purposes 
foreign teachers or students, to regulate and assign the matter of 
international fellowships, to provide eventually for the foundation 
of Italian institutes of higher education outside of the boundaries of 
Italy, and to favor in every way intellectual relations with the other 
nations. 

The bureau is to consist of a council and an executive committee, 
both presided over by the Minister of Public Instruction. In the 
council, composed of 21 members, the faculties of the universities, 
the Ministry of Public Instruction with the two directors general 
of higher and middle instruction, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, 
of Agriculture, and of Industry and Commerce, and the Parliament, 
are all duly represented. Representatives of private educational and 
intellectual agencies outside the school and state administration 
may be included at the discretion of the Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion. The executive committee, composed of seven members and 
elected by the council from its own members, is charged with all 
practical details. 

The Italian teachers who go abroad for research or for study, 
according to the plans of the bureau and with the approval of the 






EDUCATION IN ITALY. 29 

ministry, are distributed in three classes according to the probable 
or actual period of absence from the Kingdom — those for less than 
one year, others for more than one year and less than five years, 
and still others for a longer term. Foreigners teaching in Italy shall 
have conferred upon them the dignity of the Italian professor of 
equal rank, and under certain conditions legal validity is given the 
course of lectures conducted by them. 

The projected law also determines the value of the studies pursued 
outside the Kingdom, those pursued by foreigners in Italy, and the 
value and status of fellowships. In general the studies and exami- 
nations pursued in foreign countries in the State institutions or those 
of established reputation are accorded the same value as studies 
and examinations in equivalent schools of the Kingdom. The fel- 
lowships are not restricted, as hitherto, to graduates, but are granted 
also to university students doing special work in laboratories, libra- 
ries, and foreign archives. Every year a certain number of fellow- 
ships shall be granted students and graduates from the high schools, 
normal and professional schools and special institutes for a period of 
not more than two years of study abroad. 

To give a rapid development to this plan and cooperate with 
the State institutions in Italy and abroad for its accomplishment is 
now the most important task of the Italian Association and of such 
similar associations as may be established in allied and friendly 
countries. 

. o 



